SAMARA, July 21. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia will continue to supply rocket engines to the United States despite Western sanctions, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

“We are not going to shoot ourselves in the leg. They are organising sanctions in such a way that they will boomerang on their head. But we will continue to do (with the US) what benefits us and we will suspend what does not. Presently, the sale of engines benefits our engine-making enterprises in that they use the money for their own modernisation,” Rogozin said.

“We need the most modern engines that produce more thrust. In order to design them, we need free money. This is why we are prepared to sell them …taking the sanctions very pragmatically,” he said.

Rogozin said the United States was pragmatic about the sanctions which did not affect Energomash and Kuznetsov companies which make engines.

On the whole, he observed, the sanctions against Russian defense enterprises would affect the European defense sector. “All these sanctions are an anti-European technological policy of the United States. They are targeting Russia but in reality they are delivering an enormous blow to relations inside Europe and European industry,” he said.

Rogozin said France, Germany and Italy were interested in joint arms projects. “In other words, we make a helicopter and, say, Belgium supplies weapons for it. Now these plans will be scrapped,” he said.